THE MYTH OF "SPOT REDUCTION"
For the last time: doing abs has no effect on body-fat reduction.
By Michael Boyle
www.coreperformance.com
I know, you have to be saying, Come on, Mike, you're ruining my workouts. Sorry, my mission is to continue to set the record straight.

It is amazing how many people still cling to the idea of spot reduction. Women work on the inner-thigh machine to get smaller inner thighs. People do crunches to get a smaller stomach. I've addressed this in previous articles about abs and exercising for weight loss, so I won't beat a dead horse.

However, it still baffles me that no matter how many times I tell someone that doing abs has no effect on body-fat reduction, you still see people cranking out hundreds of crunches and you still see clubs offering "abs" classes.

The major problem with this thought process, besides the obvious time wasted that could actually be spent on an effective fat-loss routine, is actually more significant. Too much trunk flexion is not good for you. In fact, if you have disc issues in your back, it can be bad for you.

Let's examine most crunch-type exercises. In any conventional crunch, the upper body moves toward the feet. We refer to this as shoulder-to-hip flexion. This type of crunch will primarily activate the rectus abdominus with potentially a little transverse and internal oblique. Not a bad exercise in moderation.

However, if we spend all this time moving the ribcage toward the pelvis, guess what happens? You guessed it, the rib cage moves toward the pelvis, permanently. Personal trainers and physical therapists are reporting postural distortions and abdominal tightness in clients who do excessive amounts of crunch-type exercise. This seems to be particularly prevalent in the Pilates world and in the group exercise world.

Some advice:

Stay out of the abs classes. They are probably not a good idea. A good core workout shouldn't even take 15 minutes.

Use the time you would have spent in abs class to do something that will actually help with fat loss. Take a spin class, do some interval work.

Stretch the abs. Press-up type stretches can help counteract the results of excessive flexion. In yoga, I believe the pose is cobra.

Work the whole cylinder.

What does that mean? The core is a cylinder. It has sides as well as a front. Include exercises for the obliques as well as the six-pack rectus. Also please don't say, "I do twisting crunches also." Not enough. The reality is that planks or bridges may be the best abdominal work you can do. We need to think of the core muscles as "anti-rotators," not as flexors. Think isometrics versus flexion and remember, more is not better.

The average couch potato can use some crunch-type work to tighten up the rectus. A person who has been working out extensively probably has done too much crunch-type work and needs to switch to more plank-type exercise.

Just keep reminding yourself. More is not better and spot reduction doesn't work. If you are going to spend time in the gym, let's make it productive time.
Michael Boyle is the editor of strengthcoach.com a website for anyone interested in the field of strength and conditioning. To learn more go to www.strengthcoach.com
(Source: Core Performance)